Andrew Peter Wypych (born December 5, 1954) is a Polish-born

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

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who served as an

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

and

episcopal vicar Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

of the

Archdiocese of Chicago The Archdiocese of Chicago () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church located in Northeastern Illinois, in the United States. The Vatican erected it as a diocese in 1843 and elevated it to an ar ...

from 2011 to 2023.

Biography

Early life and education

Andrew Wypych was born in

Kazimierza Wielka Kazimierza Wielka () is a town in southern Poland, in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, about northeast of Kraków. It is the administrative seat of Kazimierza County. With a population of 5,848 (2005), it is the smallest county seat in Poland. Kazimi ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

on December 5, 1954, to Henryka Luty and Julian Wypych. He had one brother who died in infancy. Wypych first attended the primary school in Dobieszowice then the secondary school, Liceum Ogólnokształcące, in

Działoszyce Działoszyce is a town in Pińczów County in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in southern Poland, with 2,882 inhabitants as of December 2023. History The town is located in historic Lesser Poland, and the earliest mention of Działoszyce in hist ...

. Wypych then entered the

major seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

of the

Archdiocese of Kraków In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

. In 1973, Wypych started his studies at the Papal Academy of Theology in Kraków, receiving a

Bachelor of Philosophy Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil, BPh, or PhB; or or ) is the title of an academic degree in philosophy that usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects. Unlike many other bachelor's degrees, the ...

degree in 1975 and a

Master of Theology Master of Theology (, abbreviated ThM, MTh or MTheol, or ''Sacrae Theologiae Magister''; abbreviated STM) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a ...

degree in 1979, On May 6, 1978, Wypych was ordained a deacon by then-Cardinal

Karol Wojtyła Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until his death in 2005. In his youth, Wojtyła dabbled in stage acting. H ...

Ordination and ministry

On April 29, 1979, Wypych was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Franciszek Macharski for the Archdiocese of Kraków. After his ordination, he served as an associate pastor in Kozy, Poland. In 1981, Wypych was transferred to a parish in Jawiszowice, Poland. In April 1983, Wypych moved to Illinois to be closer to his mother, who had emigrated there in 1974. In 2011, he revealed in an interview that he had been unable to call his mother for years due to restrictions from the

Polish Government The government of Poland takes the form of a Unitary state, unitary semi-presidential republic, semi-presidential Representative democracy, representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Poland, president is the head of state and t ...

of that era. After arriving in the United States, the

assigned Wypych to Five Holy Martyrs Parish in Chicago. At the end of 1983, he was transferred to St. Giles Parish in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, adjacent to Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a population of 54,318 as of the 2020 census. Oak Park was first se ...

. In 1985, Wypych became associate pastor of St. Ladislaus Parish in Chicago. Starting in July 1986, he went to St. Pancratius Parish in Chicago. Having decided to stay in Chicago because of the need for priests, Wypych requested

incardination Incardination is the formal term in the Catholic Church for a clergyman being under a bishop or other ecclesiastical superior. It is also sometimes used to refer to laity who may transfer to another part of the church. Examples include transfers ...

, or transfer, to the Archdiocese of Chicago, which was granted in 1989. In 1996, he began serving also as pastor of Five Holy Martyrs Parish, an assignment that lasted until 1999. Wypych remained at St. Pancratius for 16 years as associate pastor, parochial administrator and pastor. In 2002, Wypych was appointed pastor of St. Francis Borgia Parish in Chicago. During this same time period, he also served as dean of

Deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

IV-D and as a member of the archdiocesan

college of consultors A consultor is one who gives counsel, i.e., a counselor. In the Catholic Church, it is a specific title for various advisory positions: *in the Roman Curia, a consultor is a specially appointed expert who may be called upon for advice desired by ...

Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago

On June 13, 2011,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

named Wypych as an auxiliary bishop of Chicago and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Naraggara. He received his episcopal consecration on August 10, 2011, from Cardinal

Francis George Francis Eugene George (January 16, 1937 – April 17, 2015) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the eighth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago in Illinois (1997–2014) and previously served as bishop of the Dio ...

, with Bishop Józek Guzdek from the Archdiocese of Białystok in Poland and Archbishop

Gustavo Garcia-Siller Gustavo is the Latinate form of a Germanic male given name with respective prevalence in Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian. It is derived from Gustav /ˈɡʊstɑːv/, also spelled Gustaf, a Swedish name, likely from Slavic Gostislav. People with ...

as co-consecrators. As an auxiliary bishop, Wypych served as episcopal vicar for Vicariate V.

Retirement and legacy

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

accepted Wypych's resignation as auxiliary bishop on September 19, 2023. Wypych had resigned at age 68, seven years before the mandatory retirement age, for health reasons.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wypych, Andrew Peter 1954 births Living people Polish Roman Catholic titular bishops Polish emigrants to the United States Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago Christianity in Chicago 21st-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops Religious leaders from Illinois People from Kazimierza County